Resilient public spaces under psychological distress: a closer look at high-density urban streets’ vibrancy in Hong Kong

The importance of public spaces for psychological restoration is a well-explored topic in urban studies. Particularly, the relevance of urban streets as an accessible source of open public space emerged as fundamental, especially in high-density urban environments, where, in some cases, the demand for open public space per person does not match the available offer. During the pandemic, public spaces' resilience criteria were challenged due to major psychological distress affecting urban populations worldwide. New questions about the nature and design of future public spaces capable of being resilient under major public health concerns or high levels of psychological distress raised, revealing new horizons to urban designers and architects for deeper interdisciplinary investigations related to urban dynamics. In this perspective, the role of high-density streets as resilient urban environments still has lots of unexplored potential. With this study, we selected a high-density urban neighbourhood in Hong Kong, well-known as a buzzing commercial district, to conduct empirical research. Our goal relied upon getting a deeper understanding of street vibrancy under psychological distress. We conducted a longitudinal study that involved video recordings on the streets under psychological distress in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Primary data were lately further analysed through Geographic Information System (GIS) by performing behaviour mapping and later on statistical analysis. Only stationary activities were considered; the data were related to urban activities on the streets in an attempt to visualise street vibrancy patterns in relation to spatial, morphological, and urban design factors. By learning from empirical evidence, this study sheds light on further discussion on design guidelines for future high-density urban streets, as well as reflections on vibrant urban streets capable of being resilient under psychological distress. These findings could inform urban designers and architects on design guidelines for the restoration of existing environments, as well as for future cities to be more responsive to psychological well-being.